THE
COLORFUL CITY OF ROSARITO
CELEBRATES THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF
ROSARITO BEACH HOTEL

STORY
BY JENNA CAVELLE • PHOTOS BY
ERIK CUTTER

JUST A HOP, SKIP AND
A SHORT 3-hour jump south of Los Angeles,
lies the Rosarito Beach Hotel, a Spanish-Colonial
hostelry that continues to attract
the same air of fame it exudes. Revered
as a favorite escape during the Prohibition
era, Hollywood legends Orson Welles,
Lana Turner and Rita Hayworth patronized
the hotel regularly. Enjoying as much
fame as its guests, Rosarito Beach
Hotel has much to celebrate. It’s
no secret that festivity and good
cheer are second nature for Mexico
and at the Rosarito Beach Hotel –
it’s simply what they do best.
In 1935, ninety airplanes parked on
the hotel grounds in honor of the
New Year’s celebration. Seventy
years later, this grandeur approach
to commemoration lives on and the
excitement is contagious.

The hotel is a dramatic
city within itself, an achievement
further illustrated by a map of the
hotel grounds presented along with
your room key upon check-in. Built
by Manuel P. Barbachano in the late
1920’s, the hotel is nestled
on the white-sand beach of the Pacific
side of Baja Norte, just south of
the Tijuana border. By 1933, Barbachano
built the first paved highway in the
area to make it easier for his SoCal
guests to get to the hotel. Soon thereafter,
he built the first power and telephone
companies in Baja, making the hotel
an accessible, comfortable getaway
for sun-seeking vacationers and celebrities
alike.

Today, nephew and hotel
manager Hugo Torres Chabert continues
Barbachano’s efforts, expanding
the hotel’s services and architecture.
Plans for a marina are already underway
as a follow-up phase to the fishing
pier that stretches out to the sea.
In eight decades, the hotel has evolved
from an eight-room hunting lodge to
a 280-room resort hotel. My room boasted
2 stories, 2 bedrooms, a wrought iron
spiral staircase, a full kitchen and
a cozy living area with a sweeping
view of the ocean.

When you enter the open,
woodbeamed lobby displaying original
1920’s murals, a deep appreciation
of Mexico’s culture and history
envelopes you. In the near distance,
a superbly tiled Olympic-size swimming
pool beckons you to its courtyard.
From here, you might bask in the sunshine
while listening to the live mariachi
music pouring from the Azteca Restaurant.
Whether you choose to stroll the maze
of ballrooms or find yourself seduced
to the beach by the thunder of crashing
waves – there is no shortage
of stimulation at the Rosarito Beach
Hotel. The property is all-inclusive
with a fishing pier, two restaurants,
three bars, a coffee shop, two ballrooms,
a museum, boutique shops, racquetball
courts, a full-service spa and a myriad
of activities such as cooking lessons,
dancing instruction and Mexican handcrafts
just to name a few.

Beyond the hotel, Rosarito
activities include horseback riding
and ATVing on the beach, shopping
and fine dining. Foxploration - a
studio tour type attraction at the
place where parts of "Titanic"
and "Pearl Harbor" were
filmed - is a couple of miles south
of town.

One of the hotel’s
most striking features is the palace-like
spa – a soaring chamber with
an artfully symmetric staircase leading
to a wrap-around gallery and railed
in vintage wrought iron. A firstclass
staff offers an elaborate variety
of massages and beauty treatments
that are unparalleled in quality.
The spa houses a complete gym outfitted
with universal equipment and a large
room for aerobics. Additionally, the
beauty salon offers hair, nail and
make-up services.

Although expansion seems
impossible at a hotel that already
offers anything and everything, Torres
foresees more growth in the years
to come. His only condition is to
uphold Rosarito Beach Hotel’s
proud heritage and increase the prosperity
of the surrounding town and its people.

“We want to make
Rosaritio Beach a model city for Baja
California Norte and for all of Mexico.
We are blessed with a coastline of
white sandy beaches and inlands of
natural open beauty. Our goal is to
enhance the resources of Rosarito
Beach, both for our residents and
the visitors who enjoy our wonderful
city,” states Torres.

Whether it be for just
a night or an extended weekend with
friends and family, with 80 years
of presenting the best of Mexican
hospitality, this nearby getaway is
a sure bet to please you.